CHAPTER 92: A BROTHER'S LOVE
Evelyn took the pregnancy announcement very seriously.
"I need to teach Jamie how to be a good big sibling." She announced at breakfast three days after we told them. "Because he doesn't know anything."
"Hey!" Jamie's lower lip jutted out. "I know stuff."
"You still sleep with Mr Dino." Evelyn pointed at the stuffed dinosaur he'd brought to the table. "Babies can't see that or they'll think you're not grown up."
"Mr Dino is grown up." Jamie clutched the toy tighter. "Tell her Daddy."
William hid his smile behind his coffee cup. "Mr Dino is very mature for his age."
"See?" Jamie stuck his tongue out at his sister.
"That's not mature." Evelyn rolled her eyes in a way that looked exactly like me. "Mommy, tell him."
"How about we all practice being mature by eating breakfast without arguing?" I spooned oatmeal into bowls. "The baby won't be here for months. You have time to figure it out."
"I already figured it out." Evelyn pulled out a notebook covered in stickers. "I made a list."
"A list?" William took it from her. "Rule number one: No loud noises near the baby. Rule number two: Always share toys even when you don't want to. Rule number three—" He paused. "Make sure Daddy doesn't work too much?"
"You're always working." Evelyn said matter-of-factly. "But babies need their daddy home."
My throat went tight. William set down the notebook carefully.
"You're right." He looked at our five year old like she'd just solved world hunger. "I do work too much. How about I promise to be home for dinner every night?"
"And breakfast?" She negotiated.
"And breakfast."
"And tucking in?"
"Evelyn, don't push it." I warned but I was smiling.
"Fine." She picked up her spoon. "But the baby gets to decide if Daddy's doing good."
"Deal." William shook her tiny hand solemnly.
Jamie watched this exchange then burst into tears. "I don't want a baby! Everyone's going to love them more than me!"
"Oh buddy." I pulled him onto my lap. "We're not going to love you any less. Our hearts just grow bigger to fit more love."
"Really?" He sniffled into my shoulder.
"Really." I kissed the top of his head. "You'll always be my Jamie bean. Nothing changes that."
"Even if the baby is cuter?" His voice was so small.
"Impossible." William ruffled his hair. "You're the cutest. It's a scientific fact."
"What about me?" Evelyn demanded.
"You're the smartest." William amended quickly. "And the new baby will be... we'll figure out their thing when they get here."
"This is good." Evelyn wrote in her notebook. "Rule number four: Everyone is special for different reasons."
---
Two weeks later William's mother showed up unannounced. Again.
"I heard through the family grapevine that you're expecting." Helena walked into our living room like she owned it. "Congratulations I suppose."
"Thanks." I didn't get up from the couch where I was reading with Jamie. "We're very happy about it."
"Three children." She sat in the chair across from us uninvited. "That's quite ambitious. Especially with you running a company."
"We're managing fine." My grip tightened on the book.
"Are you?" Her eyes swept over the living room where Evelyn's art projects covered one wall and Jamie's toys littered the floor. "It looks chaotic Kate. Children need structure."
"Children need love." I corrected. "Which they have plenty of."
Helena's lips pressed into a thin line. "I'm only trying to help—"
"No you're not." William appeared in the doorway. "You're trying to criticize Kate's parenting so she'll doubt herself. It's what you've done since Evelyn was born."
"William, I'm your mother."
"And she's my wife." He moved to stand beside me. "The mother of my children. The woman I chose to build a life with. So if you can't respect her, you can leave."
"You'd choose her over family?"
"She is my family." William's voice was firm. "You're just the woman who gave birth to me. There's a difference."
Helena stood up, her face tight with anger. "You'll regret this."
"Doubt it." William held the door open. "Goodbye Mother."
After she left, Jamie looked up at me with worried eyes. "Is Grandma Helena mad at us?"
"She's mad at herself." I hugged him close. "But it's not your problem baby. Don't worry about it."
"Daddy stood up for Mommy." Evelyn observed from where she'd been listening in the hallway. "That's rule number five."
"What's rule number five?" William asked.
"Protect your family even when it's hard." She wrote it down carefully. "The baby needs to know that."
---
The Dray family celebration was William's idea.
"We never did anything for James's birth because everything was so chaotic." He said while planning. "And with the third baby coming, I want to do it right. Celebrate all of it."
So he rented out an entire restaurant, invited everyone we cared about, and turned it into the kind of event his parents used to throw. Except this one had heart.
Jeremy and Emma showed up with their one year old daughter Maya who immediately grabbed Jamie's toy truck.
"Mine!" Jamie yelled.
"Share!" Evelyn commanded, consulting her notebook.
"Your sister is terrifying." Tina whispered to me. "She's going to run a Fortune 500 company by age twelve."
"Probably." I watched Evelyn successfully negotiate the truck situation. "She gets that from William."
"She gets the bossy from you." Tina laughed. "Don't even try to deny it."
Liam clinked his glass, getting everyone's attention. "I'd like to make a toast. To Kate and William who proved that contract marriages can turn into real love. To their growing family. And to the fact that William finally learned to leave the office before midnight."
"Barely learned." I stage whispered and everyone laughed.
"To barely learned work-life balance." William raised his glass. "And to my wife who's given me everything I never knew I needed."
"Sappy." Jeremy called out but he was smiling.
After dinner, William pulled me outside to the restaurant's garden. City lights twinkled around us, music drifted from inside where our friends and kids were probably destroying the dessert table.
"I have something for you." He pulled out a jewelry box. "Before you say it's too much—"
"It's too much." I said automatically.
"Let me finish." He opened it revealing a diamond necklace that probably cost more than most people's houses. "Each stone represents a moment. The day we met. Our first real conversation. When you agreed to marry me. When Evelyn was born. James. And this one—" He pointed to the newest stone. "For baby number three."
"William." My eyes filled with tears. "This is beautiful."
"You deserve beautiful." He fastened it around my neck, his fingers gentle. "You've given me a family Kate. Real love, not the cold business arrangement my parents had. I want you to have something that shows how much that means."
"I don't need diamonds to know you love me." I touched the necklace anyway. "But I'll wear it because you're sweet."
"Just sweet?" He pulled me close.
"And occasionally tolerable." I kissed him. "When you're not being impossible."
"Same to you." He rested his forehead against mine. "Kate, I've been thinking. About the business, about our life. What would you say to stepping back from Jones-Dray?"
I pulled away to look at him. "What?"
"Not forever. Just for a while." He spoke quickly. "Liam and the board can handle operations. You'd still be CEO on paper but you wouldn't have to be in the office every day. You could focus on the kids, the foundation, actually enjoying this pregnancy instead of stressing through it."
"You want me to quit?"
"I want you to have a choice." He corrected. "You've spent years fighting for that company. Maybe it's time to just be Kate. Not CEO Kate, not Jones's daughter Kate. Just you."
I wanted to argue, to say the company needed me. But looking through the window at Evelyn teaching Maya how to share and Jamie showing off his dinosaur knowledge to anyone who'd listen, I realized something.
They needed me more.
"Okay." The word surprised us both. "I'll do it. Step back, delegate, actually be present for this pregnancy."
"Really?" William looked shocked. "You're not going to fight me on this?"
"I'm too tired to fight." I admitted. "And you're right. I've been so focused on honoring my parents' legacy that I forgot to build my own."
"Your legacy is right in there." He nodded toward our kids. "Everything else is just details."
We stood in the garden watching our family through the window. Tina was trying to wrangle all three kids. Jeremy and Emma were arguing about something while Liam attempted to mediate. Mr Howard sat in the corner looking happier than I'd ever seen him.
"How did we get here?" I asked. "From a contract marriage to this?"
"Stubbornness mostly." William wrapped his arms around me from behind, his hands resting on my stomach. "And luck. And the fact that you refused to let me be a cold heartless businessman forever."
"You were never heartless." I covered his hands with mine. "Just scared."
"Same thing sometimes."
"Not anymore." I leaned back against him. "Now you're just the guy who throws elaborate parties and buys excessive jewelry."
"Someone has to balance out your practical nature." He kissed my temple. "Besides, our kids deserve to see their parents celebrating. Not just surviving."
"They do." I touched my mother's locket that I still wore every day alongside the new necklace. "And somewhere, I think my parents are happy we figured it out."
"Mine probably hate it." William said cheerfully. "Which makes it even better."
Inside, Evelyn appeared at the window and pressed her face against the glass, making silly faces at us. Jamie joined her, not understanding but copying her anyway.
"We should go back in." I said without moving. "Before they destroy something expensive."
"One more minute." William held me tighter. "Let me just stand here with my wife and our growing family and appreciate how impossibly lucky I am."
"We're both lucky." I corrected. "And our kids are going to be so loved they'll probably be insufferable about it."
"Good." He spun me around to face him. "Let them be insufferable. Let them be confident and secure and know without a doubt that they're the center of our universe."
"Even when they're fighting over toys?"
"Especially then." He grinned. "Because fighting means they're comfortable enough to be themselves. And that's what family is Kate. Being ourselves with people who love us anyway."
The restaurant door opened and Evelyn's voice carried out. "Mommy! Daddy! Jamie spilled juice on Aunt Tina!"
"Did not!" Jamie's defensive yell followed.
"Did too!"
William and I looked at each other and laughed.
"Ready?" He held out his hand.
"Always." I took it and we walked back into the chaos together.
Where we belonged.